


fromtheark

by Youkoartemis



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Jay is awkward, Pre-Canon, Seer!Jay, and Tim is freaking out, and their paths diverge..., but it all works out in the end, they are now headed (away) fromtheark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 14:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14896581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Youkoartemis/pseuds/Youkoartemis
Summary: It had started out as such a normal night, and then Jay's doorbell rang. At first, he thought nothing of it, but then the pounding on his door started. When he opened the door, Tim was standing there. What Tim had to say would change the course of the future.





	fromtheark

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this a while back while at work, and some of my friends were like “hey you should post this” and so I am.

Jay had been staring at his computer screen, lost in thought when the doorbell rang. At first, he thought nothing of it, and made no move to answer the door. Frankly, he wasn’t convinced it was actually _his_ doorbell ringing.

And then it rang again, followed by some rather frantic pounding on his door. _That_ got him moving.

He stood and quickly made his way to the door, brows drawn together in a faint frown. He unlatched his door, then pulled it open to see Tim standing outside. The man’s eyes were wide, and wild, and his face was pale. He was breathing like he’d just run a marathon.

“Tim?” Jay asked, frown deepening as an icy pit formed in his stomach.

Before Jay could continue, Tim cut him off.

“Have you seen Brian?” Was what came bursting out of Tim’s mouth.

Jay’s mind skipped a beat.

“Uh, n-no? I haven’t seen Brian since last rehearsal a, uh, about a week ago?” Jay answered a bit haltingly, blinking a couple times and tilting his head to the left in bemusement. “Why?”

The frown reappeared as a thought occurred to him, “Is... Did something happen to him?” He paused briefly again, glancing about, then opened his door further, stepping back. “Actually, why don’t you come inside?”

“I - yeah, okay. That- sounds good.” Tim agreed, looking and sounding incredibly frazzled as he ran a hand through his hair. He heaved out a long, shaky sigh as he stepped into Jay’s apartment.

Jay looked around one last time as he shut the door behind Tim, locking and latching it once more.

They moved to Jay’s living room.

“Okay, so, what’s going on? Why are you looking for Brian? Did- Did something happen?” Jay asked, eyes wide and brow furrowed as he picked at a loose thread on the sleeve of his black hooded jacket.

Tim shook his head, eyes still wide as he paced around Jay’s living room like a caged tiger.

“I don’t know!” Tim admitted, voice shooting up an octave in distress, “I mean, I think he _might_ be, ‘cause I haven’t seen - or even _heard_ \- from him in a couple days, and- and he’s not answering his phone when I call! Brian _always_ answers his phone! I don’t-” the man babbled, clutching his head in both hands as he paced, occasionally shooting frantic looks in Jay’s direction.

“Okay, yeah, that-that sounds really, uh, Not Good.” Jay agreed, tone of his voice falling a bit flat, as it usually did, “Do you, uh, have any idea where he was last, or who he might’ve been with?” he asked, looking up after rubbing the back of his neck, stopping when a thought occurred to him.

“Wait, actually, wasn’t that shoot in the abandoned hospital supposed to be this weekend?”

 _“How_ could it have been this weekend? I’m the only one who knows how to get there!” Tim shot back, glaring.

Jay paused, staring wide-eyed at Tim, frozen like a deer caught in headlights. He opened his mouth as though to say something, and then stopped. He took a deep breath.

“...Tim-” He paused to take another deep breath, “You... _did_ take Alex there. Like, you- you two make a weekend of it! _This_ weekend. What...-” Jay cut himself off, shaking his head, “You don’t...remember?”

Tim gaped at him.

“I- What? I didn’t-” he paused, “Did I?”

He stared at his hands with wide, uncertain eyes.

Jay pursed his lips.

“Maybe you should sit down? You know just- just for a bit, while we figure this out?” He offered, brow furrowed in concern, guiding his friend over to the couch.

“Okay, so, we know Brian is missing, and that the last person who saw him was probably Alex. And that’s...” Jay broke off with a wince, looking nervously around the room, as though expecting something - or some _one_ \- to jump out at him, “That’s _really_ not good.”

Tim sat up, focusing intently on Jay.

“What do you mean?” He demanded.

Jay hesitated, gnawing on his lower lip and fidgeting frantically with the loose string on his sleeve.

“I...” He paused, frowning thoughtfully as he considered how to phrase what he had to say, “This...wouldn’t be the first time someone’s gone missing after going somewhere alone with Alex...”

Tim’s eyes widened further.

 _“What?_ “ He demanded, voice almost a gasp.

Jay paused again, looking down at his fidgeting hands, mouth a thin line. He glanced around again.

“Seth… Seth went out with him to scout a location. It was like, some abandoned building? Anyway, Seth… Alex must not’ve known that Seth and I have been regularly meeting up to go over and edit the footage, ‘cause I- I don’t think he’d’ve, uh, done...what he did...if he’d known it would be noticed so quickly.” He explained, voice barely above a whisper, his legs hugged up against his chest after he sat down next to Tim on the couch.

Tim swallowed thickly, a chill running through his body as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

“What… What did he do…?” He asked hesitantly, morbid curiosity getting the best of him.

Jay paused again, lifting his head from his knees, and turning it so he was looking sideways at Tim.

“...I found Seth - _alone_ \- in an abandoned building. He was… He wasn’t _all there,_ when I found him. He was delirious, and barely conscious, and...and it looked a whole lot like he’d been smacked upside the head by something.” Jay swallowed heavily around the lump in his throat, hands trembling as they clutched at his sides. “It was _bad,_ Tim. Real bad. He’s doing better now, but…”

There was a long, heavy silence.

Tim gulped again, sucking in a shuddery breath that shook as he slowly released it.

 _“...Shit.”_ He summed up, roughly running a hand through his hair. “So, what? Alex just… _smashed_ something over Seth’s head and fucking _left him to die_ in a fucking _abandoned building?”_ he asked, voice rising in both volume and pitch in his distress.

Jay nodded miserably into his knees.

“Yeah. Pretty much.” He confirmed, tone bleak.

 _“Shit.”_ Tim repeated, even more emphatically, “And you’re saying Alex probably did the same thing to Brian that he did to Seth?”

Jay shrugged.

“I mean… I can’t, like, _guarantee_ it, but...it seems pretty likely, given what you’ve told me.” He said in response, voice soft. He sounded upset, in that subdued, borderline apathetic way of his.

Tim abruptly stood up, causing Jay to flinch slightly in surprise, looking up at him a little wide-eyed. Tim shot him a determined, frantic look in response.

“We gotta find Brian. _Now.”_ He stated forcefully.

Jay blinked once, then nodded, unfolding his long, skinny limbs to stand as well.

“You’re right.” He agreed, “Lemme just grab a couple things, first, and…” He paused to give Tim a speculative look, “Your phone can send texts, right?”

“Uh, yeah? Why?” Tim asked, shifting impatiently.

“D’you mind if I shoot Seth a text using your phone?” Jay asked, eyes focused intently on Tim, whose brow furrowed in confusion.

“Uh, what? You’ve got your _own_ phone for that!”

“Yeah, but using yours would be extra insurance that Alex wouldn’t figure out what we’re planning, because...why would _you_ be texting _Seth?”_ Jay explained, speech speeding up to the point he was nearly tripping over his words in his anxious haste to explain himself.

Tim continued frowning suspiciously at him.

“You think he’s really monitoring you _that_ closely?” He asked skeptically, crossing his arms over his chest, one eyebrow raised.

Jay shrugged, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, dropping his gaze down to his shoes, hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket.

“I dunno, but I mean, if he’s out to _kill_ us, can we really afford to think he’s _not_ monitoring us to some degree?” He retorted, “But whatever, if it’s that big a deal to you, I can use my own phone, instead.”

Tim breathed out a harsh sigh through his nose, running a rough hand through his hair and then down his face.

“Fine. Whatever. Send the fucking text, get your shit, and let’s _go.”_ He said impatiently, pulling out his phone, pulling up the texting function, then all but _shoving_ it into a surprised Jay’s hands. He then stepped back to pace like a caged tiger once more.

Jay quickly encoded his message - one could _never_ be too careful - and sent it to Seth. He handed the phone back to Tim to let him see the message.

“Can you delete that when you’re done reading it, please?” Jay requested, heading off to grab a couple things.

Tim looked down at what Jay had sent, and boggled.

_“2 11 7 1 10 8 9 7 12 12 7 10 6 8 13 7 9 8 14 8 9 4 8 5 7 10 3 8 12 8”_

Tim looked up.

“Jay, what the fuck is this?” He asked, raising his voice to be heard.

“It’s a code!” Jay called back.

“Yeah, I can _see_ that, smartass. What’s it _mean?”_ Tim snarked.

“”Brian missing. Tim with me. Find Sarah.”” Jay recited absently while rummaging through drawers, “”With” and “Sarah” are abbreviated down to their first letters, though.” He added, pulling something out of the drawer and shoving it into one of his pants pockets. “Seth and I set up a lot of ciphers like the one I used, just in case.”

“That’s...real fucking paranoid.” Tim noted.

“It’s not paranoia if someone’s really out to get you.” Jay replied with a shrug, walking over to Tim, who shrugged back.

“Yeah, good point.” He admitted, “You done?”

Jay patted his pockets, checking their contents one last time, then nodded.

“Yeah.” He confirmed, adding “We heading to the abandoned hospital in one car, or two?”

“Same car; let’s keep things simple.” Tim answered, almost immediately.

Jay nodded.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was dark by the time Tim stopped the car.

“We’ll need to walk from here.” Tim stated, getting out.

Jay just nodded and followed. They walked in silence for a long while, each stewing in their own worried thoughts.

About halfway through their walk, Jay silently grimaced and shook his head, squinting his eyes and blinking against the mild twinging of his left eye. The closer they got to their destination, the more his eye ached.

Tim looked back towards Jay when he heard the familiar rattle of a pill bottle. Sure enough, Jay had a couple pills out and swallowed them dry. He then replaced the bottle into the pocket of his jacket.

Jay’s eyes flicked up to meet Tim’s, and he gave an awkward little half-shrug, but offered no further explanation. Not that Tim had expected one; he was the last person to want to pry into someone else’s medical history.

“You might want to take yours, too.” Jay told him.

Tim stopped abruptly, causing Jay to almost run into him.

“How do you know about-” Tim cut himself off, glaring suspiciously at Jay, who just frowned a little and blinked a couple times.

“Was I...not supposed to know about that?” He asked slowly, looking a mixture of confused and concerned. He lightly gnawed at his lower lip, shoulders hunching up.

Tim huffed in annoyance, but shook his head.

“Whatever.” He muttered, scowling as he shoved his hands into his pockets, “Just don’t go spreading it around, okay?”

“I won’t.” Jay promised, adding, “I’d still, uh, recommend taking a dose of your medication, if your condition tends to, uh. To flare up in stressful situations like mine does. Y’know, uh, just in case...If you- if you’ve got ‘em with you.” Jay babbled, voice getting quieter as he went on, shoulders hunching up as he lost his nerve.

Tim remained silent for a while, and then coughed, hand flying up to his mouth. His whole body shook with the force of his harsh, hacking coughs. It got so bad he had to stop, hunching over.

Jay’s eyes widened and he approached Tim closer, hands outstretched, but Jay stopped just short of touching Tim, unsure; he didn’t want to make things awkward...but he also wanted to help, if that was even possible…

In the midst of his coughing fit, Tim shakily took a bottle of pills out of his pants pocket, opened it, and downed a couple of pills dry. He nearly coughed them right back up, but managed to swallow them. What felt like a small eternity later (but was really only about a minute), Tim’s coughing subsided, letting him breathe freely again.

Jay gave it a few seconds before he spoke up.

“Are you...Okay?” He asked, voice low.

Tim cleared his throat one last time.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” He stated, voice a little raspy.

Jay nodded slowly, still frowning in concern at the other man. He didn’t... _really_ believe Tim, but... He supposed Tim would know his own health better than Jay did, so… He let it go.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

A few more minutes of walking, and they reached the burned down hospital.

“Well… Here we are.” Tim remarked, motioning limply at the building.

Jay stared at it, mind a thousand miles away as he thought, a faint frown furrowing his brow.

“...Is there another building?” He asked suddenly, causing Tim’s gaze and attention to snap over to him.

Tim paused, frowning momentarily before smoothing the expression into indifference.

“Uh… Yeah, but…-” Tim started saying.  
  
“-Then that’s where Alex took Brian.” Jay interrupted, expression focused and tone certain.

Tim blinked at him, eyes wide with surprise.

“Uh, what?” Tim asked, bemused, before frowning, “How do you know?”

Jay met Tim’s eyes dead on, and held the eye contact for a couple moments, expression calm.

“Because I know Alex, Tim.” He stated simply, “And Alex wouldn’t pick this building if there was another option.”

He then dropped his gaze down, shoulders hunching up, suddenly nervous and uncomfortable.

Tim breathed out a long sigh, shoulders slumping, and chin dropping down to his chest before he nodded.

“...Okay. Alright. If you’re _sure…_ ” He very reluctantly agreed, raising his head back up to look at Jay, who was still looking awkwardly at his shuffling feet.

Tim’s mouth was drawn down at the corners, brow furrowed. Combined with his still slumped shoulders, he looked a mixture of exhausted and resigned.

Jay glanced up at him, gnawing lightly on his lower lip, and nodded somewhat jerkily.

“Yeah-” Jay stated, quickly averting his eyes from meeting Tim’s to looking at his left ear “--I’m sure.”

Tim heaved another sigh, running a hand through his hair.

“Okay…” He sighed, standing up a little straighter, “It’s… This way.” He pointed with his flashlight before walking in the direction he’d indicated.

Jay silently followed in his wake. The only indications of his presence being the beam of his flashlight and the crunching of leaves beneath a second pair of feet behind Tim.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

A couple of minutes later, they stood in front of a truly burnt out wreck of what _used_ to be a single story building.

Tim came to a stop in front of it. He took a deep breath, and let it out in a long, shuddery exhale that got cut off part way by some coughing.

Jay startled slightly at the sudden loud sound, shooting Tim a wide-eyed look that quickly morphed into a small frown of concern. He made to approach closer, but Tim waved him off, clearing his throat a couple times after his brief coughing fit.

“Well,” Tim started, sounding _deeply_ unenthused, “This is it.”

Jay regarded the building, head tilting to the right, expression solemn. He hummed absently to acknowledge that Tim had spoken, but otherwise didn’t react. He noted distantly that his left eye was now _throbbing_ with pain. He wondered where in the building Brian could be. Even if it was just the one floor, it still wasn’t exactly a _small_ building… His eye throbbed harder, and his vision _blurred._

“How the hell are we even gonna _find_ Brian in this place?” Tim muttered, roughly running a hand through his hair once more, “He could be _anywhere…!”_

Jay hummed once more, Tim’s words going past him without registering.

Tim glanced over at Jay, frowning in concern when he caught sight of the vacant look on the other man’s face.

“...Jay?” Tim asked, moving closer, “You okay?”

Tim’s concern only grew when Jay’s response was to give one slow blink and turn to face him, eyes unfocused. It was like he was staring at something far beyond Tim.

“Hmm…?” Jay hummed absently, a vague almost-smile curling the corners of his lips upwards.

Tim hesitated, then waved a hand in front of Jay’s face.

Jay didn’t even _twitch._

 _“Jay!_ Hey! Wake up!” Tim barked, snapping his fingers in front of Jay’s face in a mimicry of something he saw Alex do, once. He _really_ hoped it worked.

Jay’s eyes widened as he flinched in surprise, blinking rapidly, almost-smile gone and replaced with a deer-caught-in-headlights expression.

“Tim?” He questioned, shoulders cautiously unhunching.

“You were like, a million miles away.” Tim said, relaxing a little now that Jay wasn’t totally out of it, “What happened?”

Jay blinked once more, then grimaced and ducked his head, sheepish.

“Uh… Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. It uh. It happens, sometimes. It’s...part of my Condition.” He explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

Tim frowned.

“I thought you took your pills?” He asked.

Jay shook his head ruefully.

“Tim… You know as well as I do that pills aren’t a perfect fix; I’m still flaring up, just… nowhere near as badly.” He replied, smiling sadly, then wincing and reaching up to rub his left eye.

Jay shook his head, lowered his hand, and shot Tim a look that was probably meant to be a smile, but was really more of a grimace.

“I’ll be fine.” He assured Tim, who did not look convinced.

Tim nodded slowly, frowning dubiously at Jay.

“...Okay. Right. Just...don’t die on me, alright?”

Jay smiled weakly in response.

“Yeah. I’ll, uh, I’ll do my best to not do that.” He agreed, eyes drifting back over to the building, smile dropping off his face. His eyes was still throbbing furiously, making his vision blur. It had been blurring the entire time; it was just easier to ignore with Tim talking to him.

“Good.” Tim said firmly, “Now let’s go find Brian… Wherever the fuck he is…” he finished in a mumble, frowning once more at the reminder that they had _no_ idea where in the building Brian could be.

Jay tilted his head to one side, focusing. There was a sharp, stabbing pain, like someone was driving a red-hot poker through his eye, and his vision

**_S    P L     I T_ **

(somanypaths alllayedout whichonewhichone _wHICHONE_ **THATONE.** )

“Let’s go.” Jay distantly heard himself say, following the steps he was Seeing.

Tim startled, but hurried after Jay. He frowned in confusion as Jay lead him through the building. Jay’s movements seemed... _Odd,_ and not quite natural. A little too… _certain,_ perhaps; Jay usually shuffled and dragged his feet, yet now he was moving freely, _carelessly,_ back straight and head unbowed. His gaze was pointed unerringly in front of him, and he was almost _thoughtlessly_ maneuvering around all of the pieces of debris littering the floor. It seemed an awful lot like Jay _knew_ where he was going. Especially since he wasn’t even _glancing_ in any of the rooms they were passing…

"Hey, uh, Jay? ...Where are we going?" Tim asked, almost afraid to know the answer.  
  
"To Brian." Was Jay's pretty absent-minded response.  
  
"And.... _How_ do you know where Brian is?" Tim pressed.  
  
"I See it."  
  
Tim suddenly had a _really_ bad feeling.  
  
"You... _"saw"_ it." He repeated, deadpan, "You mean.... Like a _hallucination?"_  
  
"That's what the doctors always called it." Jay admitted nonchalantly, as though discussing the weather.  
  
Bad feeling justified, in Tim's opinion.  
  
"So you're leading me somewhere… based on a _hallucination."_ He stated dryly, incredulous.  
  
"No." Jay contradicted, shaking his head, voice still lacking any inflection as he continued following the path he Saw, "I'm leading you to the only place Brian can be in this part of this particular timeline."  
  
Tim sighed internally.  
  
""This part of this particular timeline"?" He asked flatly, "What the _actual fuck_ are you talking about? You _know_ how crazy you sound right now, right?"  
  
"And yet you're still following me. Just like the Faceless Man follows you in ninety percent of all the timelines in this universe." Jay countered mildly, clearly unbothered by Tim's skepticism.

Tim’s blood ran cold as Jay’s words registered in his mind, and he froze.

“... _What?”_ he gasped, gaping, “How the _fuck_ do you know about that?! Who put you up to this?! Was it Alex?!” He demanded, now furious.

Jay stopped and turned back to face Tim, whose breath caught in his throat when his flashlight illuminated Jay’s expressionless face.

“Jay… You’re… _bleeding…!”_ Tim breathed, anger freezing into concern.

Jay tilted his head to the right, brow furrowing just a little. He reached a hand up to his left eye, touching the trails of blood running from his eye down to his chin, like a morbid approximation of tears. He pulled his hand away, and glanced down, seeing the red smeared on his fingers. He rubbed them against each other, expression smoothing back into indifference.

“Oh. So I am.” he stated dully, dropping his hand back down to his side. He looked back up, in the general direction of Tim’s face, “And I know about the Faceless Man for the same reason I know where Brian is. And why I knew where Seth was, and that he was in danger to begin with: I’ve Seen it. _All_ of it. In too many variations to count. All of the countless possibilities…” He trailed off, brow furrowing as his eyes widened and the corners of his mouth turned down, a new line of blood escaping his eye to run down his face.

"All the _tragedies…”_ He whispered, looking lost.

His gaze hardened.

 _“Not on_ **_my_ ** _watch.”_ He hissed, baring his teeth in a snarl.

Tim would’ve _sworn_ he saw Jay’s left eye flash a bright red, just for a _moment…_

Jay turned his glare on Time, who froze under the weight of it.

“So let’s go. Brian awaits.” With that, Jay turned on his heel and continued on, leaving Tim to either follow or be left behind.

Tim, in spite of his misgivings, chose to follow.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Jay led him at a fast pace through the building, steps seeming even more sure of where they were going than before. Jay eventually lead them to the maintenance tunnel entrance, and Tim pulled short.

“Ohhh no. I am _not_ going down there.” Tim protested.

“Then stay here; I’ll drag Brian here and you can help get him out.” Jay replied simply, jumping down and ducking into the tight quarters of the tunnels.

Tim hesitated, then breathed out a harsh breath and jumped down after Jay.

“Fuck me…” He muttered to himself before raising his voice, “Jay! Wait up! I’m coming with you!”

“I knew you’d follow.” Jay stated when Tim caught up with him. The man had been waiting, looking over his left shoulder for Tim, expression bland.

“You’re an asshole.” Tim huffed, scowling at him.

Jay’s lips twitched upwards.

“Only sometimes.”

Tim snorted.

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Okay, rude.”

“I’ll show _you_ rude…” Tim muttered, feeling mutinous.

“Please don’t.”

Tim snorted again, a smirk curling his lips upward. And then they found Brian, curled up at the very back of the tunnels. Tim couldn’t tell if he was conscious or not.

“Brian!” Tim called out, _“BRIAN!”_

Brian groaned softly and shifted, frowning ever-so-slightly, though his eyes remained closed.

“We need to get him outta here!” Tim exclaimed to Jay, eyes wide.

Jay nodded.

“Yeah. You think there’s enough space for you to pull in front of me, or should I just grab his legs and start dragging?”

Tim checked, but…

“No… I mean, you’re pretty small, but I’m _pretty_ sure I still can’t fit past you.”

Jay nodded, turning off his flashlight and shoving it into a pants pocket.

“Alright. So I’m just gonna...grab his ankles, and… we’ll hope for the best. Maybe I’ll be able to… I dunno, _climb over_ him so we both can help move him?” He said, sounding more _present_ than he had since they’d come to this dreadful place.

Tim nodded, a bit surprised at how _relieved_ he felt now that Jay seemed to be returning to his usual, socially awkward self.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” He agreed, and, with some careful maneuvering on Jay’s part, they ended up with Brian’s unconscious - but _alive!_ \- body between them.

Jay was doing his best to hold Brian up by looping his arms under Brian’s armpits while Tim carried Brian by his legs, arms looped under the unconscious man’s knees. The two of them then proceeded to slowly and carefully shuffle themselves and their unconscious friend back out of the tunnels. Finally, they made it back to the start, and carefully set Brian down so they could wipe their brows and catch their breath.

“So…” Jay started after letting out a deep breath, “How… How are we getting Brian out of here? I mean… It’s- it’s not exactly a, uh, short ledge, getting out of here…”

Tim looked up, and...yeah, it was probably like… Three feet up, roundabouts? Which didn’t seem like much in _theory,_ but when you added in the fact they’d have to haul an _unconscious man_ up that distance? It seemed like a whole lot more.

Tim let out a long breath, thinking.

“...Okay, so. I’m stronger than you.” He started, causing Jay to nod.

“Yeah, that, uh. That’s probably true.” He agreed.

Tim nodded and took another deep breath through his nose.

“Yeah, so…” Tim paused to take another breath and run a dirt-and-dust-covered hand through his hair, leaving grey streaks, “I’ll climb up and haul him out; you… you lift him up so I can grab him.”

Jay hesitated for a moment, looking uncertainly down at Brian. He took a deep breath to steady himself, and nodded, looking up in the general direction of Tim’s face.

“...Yeah. Okay.” He agreed, still looking a bit uncertain, “I… I can probably do that.”

“Good, ‘cause it’s the only way we’re getting Brian outta this hellhole.” Tim stated bluntly, standing up and then hauling himself up and out of the hole they were in.

Jay took one last deep breath, and shifted so he was crouched on the balls of his feet instead of on his knees.

“C’mon big guy…” He mumbled, wrapping his arms under Brian’s and using his legs to force himself up. He nearly fell over beneath Brian’s bulk and weight, but kept him reasonably steady. Jay heaved a deep breath, then gritted his teeth and started shuffling over to where Tim was waiting to grab Brian. Jay nearly tripped over Brian several times, but avoided falling.

“Here… You… Are... Tim…!”Jay grunted, doing his best to hold Brian up just a little higher so it was easier for Tim to grab him. Jay’s limbs were shaking violently from the exertion, and he nearly collapsed when Tim grabbed Brian and started hauling him out.

After that initial stumble, though, Jay did his best to help support and push up Brian’s weight as Tim hauled him out. It was a struggle, but they managed to get Brian out of the maintenance tunnels.

Immediately after Brian’s unconscious body was resting on solid ground, both Tim and Jay collapsed. Tim landed on his rear, legs splayed out in front of him, hands flat on the ground behind him as he gasped for air, face red from exertion.

Jay, still down in the entrance to the tunnels, fell down on his hands and knees, panting and gasping for air. His face was as red as a boiled lobster, and his limbs were trembling like leaves in a windstorm.

“I...am _never._ Doing that again.” Jay gasped out.

Tim just groaned in agreement.

Eventually, they both caught their breath, and Jay hauled himself out of the maintenance tunnels while Tim stood up and wiped his hands on his pants, sending up huge clouds of dust. The two of them stood on either side of Brian, looking down at him.

“So! Uh… I’ll get his arms, you get his legs?” Jay offered.

Tim blew out a breath and ruffled his own hair, other hand resting on his hip.

“Uh, yeah. Sounds good.” He agreed, moving towards Brian’s legs while Jay moved towards Brian’s shoulders. The two of them hefted him up and started on the lengthy trip back to the car.

“This is gonna suck…” Jay muttered while picking Brian up.

“Yeah,” Tim muttered in agreement, trying to blow his bangs out of his eyes with his breath, “But what part of this trip _hasn’t_ sucked?”

Jay grimaced.

“...Good point.”

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

It took the better part of an hour (and many breaks), but they finally made it back to the car. Of course, that brought up the _next_ dilemma…

“Are we shoving him into the passenger seat or the back?” Jay asked.

“Well, backseat would be easier…” Tim reasoned, so they leaned Brian against the car while Tim unlocked the door. Once the door was open, they carefully shoved Brian into the backseat of Tim’s car. Then they pushed and pulled him into a sitting position and buckled him in.

“Safety first.” Jay mumbled, causing Tim to snort, smirking.

Then the two of them got in the front seats, buckled _their_ seatbelts, and drove off after Tim started the car.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“So it’s...probably not a good idea to take Brian back to your place.” Jay said, staring out the side window.

Tim glanced at him, frowning at the blood he still saw drying on the other man’s face.

“Why’s that?” He asked, still frowning, though his attention returned to the road.

“That’s the second place Alex would look for him, if he figures out Brian survived.” Jay explained.

Tim pursed his lips, but nodded. He didn’t like it, but… It made sense.

“So where do _you_ suggest taking him?” He asked.

“Well, Brian and I aren’t exactly what you would call _close,_ so he could...probably, uh, stay at my place for a little while… Until we either find somewhere better or like. _Stop Alex,_ somehow…” Jay answered, still looking out the window as he leaned against the door. His eye was still aching, and he _really_ wanted to rub it, but… he didn’t want to get dried blood all over Tim’s car… So he supposed he’d just suffer. This was fine.

They returned to Jay’s apartment, for lack of any better options.

The moment Tim stopped the car, Jay got out and unlocked his door, leaving both it and the storm door in front of it open. Then he returned to the car to assist Tim in getting Brian out of the car and into the building. They leaned Brian against a wall while Jay opened the door to his apartment, and then carried him over to the couch.

After setting Brian down, they returned outside one last time. Tim closed his car door and locked it before heading back inside to keep vigil over his unconscious best friend’s body.

Jay watched silently from the door, and, when Tim was back inside, he took one last wary and suspicious look around before closing the doors, letting them lock behind him. He got to his apartment door, and, after another suspicious look around, closed, locked, and latched the door behind him. He’d be closing up all the curtains, too; one couldn’t be too safe when they really _were_ out to get you, after all…

He took out his phone and shot Seth a text.

_“2 8 7 11 8 11 1 5 4 8 6 4 8 1 10 3 8 12 8 13 8 9 4 8 7 11 8 11 8 11 1 5 4 8”_

_(“B IS SAFE. HE AND T W ME. IS S SAFE”)_

He deleted the message off of his phone.

A couple minutes passed with no response. This was not abnormal, but Jay couldn’t stop the cold pit of worry from opening up within his stomach. He decided it was time for a distraction.

He walked into his living room to check on Tim and Brian. He found that his computer chair had been dragged over to the couch, near Brian’s head. Tim was sitting hunched over in Jay’s chair, elbows on his knees and hands clasped together in his lap as he kept a silent vigil over his friend.

“...He still unconscious?” Jay asked quietly, loathe to disturb them, but also not wanting to startle Tim with his sudden presence.

Regardless of Jay’s intentions, Tim still jumped slightly at the sound of Jay’s voice. He turned sharply in his seat, shooting a wide-eyed look in Jay’s direction, shoulders hunched defensively. When he saw it was just Jay, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, shoulders lowering and expression relaxing back from startled to tired. His eyes looked a little red around the edges, but Jay resolved not to bring that or how watery Tim’s eyes looked up -- Tim had _every_ right to cry in this situation (not that there was _ever_ anything wrong with crying, but _especially_ now)!

Tim sniffed softly, and nodded.

“...Yeah.” He confirmed, voice a little raspy and choked up, “He- he’s not gonna…-”

“-He’ll wake up.” Jay assured him, “His mind’s probably just, uh… just dealing with the, um, trauma of- of what happened to him.”

Tim nodded slowly, staring almost _desperately_ at Jay, who couldn’t help fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket, uncomfortable with the _intensity_ of the focus Tim was placing on him.

“He, uh- he’s...probably gonna be pretty- pretty disoriented and, uh, _confused_ when he wakes up, so um. If- if you want to… You, um, can...stay? Y’know, if, uh. _If you want…”_ Jay continued, well aware he was babbling, voice dropping to a mumble toward the end.

He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, rubbing his right arm with his left hand, looking anywhere _but_ at Tim. He could feel Tim’s stare burning into him, and felt his face growing hot. Because _of course_ his traitorous body would betray him by blushing.

Thankfully he was saved from making an even _bigger_ fool of himself by his phone vibrating and chirping to let him know he had a message. It was probably Seth; who else would be texting him? Not Alex (not anymore). Jay shook that thought away and took out his phone, looking at the message.

_“54 68 65 20 54 77 69 6e 73 20 61 72 65 20 77 69 74 68 20 79 6f 75 3f 20 47 6f 6f 64 2e 20 53 20 69 73 20 77 69 74 68 20 6d 65 2e 20 53 61 66 65 20 66 6f 72 20 6e 6f 77 2e 20 57 65 20 62 72 69 6e 67 69 6e 67 20 74 68 65 6d 20 69 6e 3f”_

Jay smiled as he mentally deciphered the code: _“The Twins are with you? Good. S is with me. Safe for now. We bringing them in?”_

Jay was broken out of his thoughts by Tim’s softly stated “...Yeah. That- that sounds like a good idea.”

Jay startled and looked up at him, eyes wide as he blinked owlishly at the other man. The words and their context registered, and a small smile curved his lips up. He nodded.

“Alright, sounds good! I…” Jay stopped when he itched at his face, only for dried blood to flake off on his fingers. He grimaced, lowering his hand, “am going to go wash off this blood. And then I’m gonna set up somewhere for you to stay... _if I haven’t already…”_ He finished in a mumble. He was turning to wander off when a thought occurred to him, and he turned back.

“...You okay here with just Brian? Do you...need anything? Food? A drink?”

Tim shook his head and waved him off, smiling faintly.

“Nah, I’m good - go take care of that blood, Jay. Seriously, you look like a murder victim.”

Jay chuckled awkwardly, and nodded.

“Yeah, alright. Just… just wanted to check. I’ll… See you, um, shortly.”

“Take all the time you need - I’m good here, and Brian’s… About as good as he _can_ be, given the circumstances.” Tim assured him, waving him off once more.

Jay smiled faintly, and bobbed his head in acknowledgement.

“Okay. Don’t- don’t hesitate to shout if you need something, though.”

Tim snorted, shaking his head in amused exasperation.

“Get the hell outta here!” He exclaimed, the rare grin he sported softening the otherwise rude words.

Jay’s mouth dropped open a little and he blinked a couple times, dazzled by the other man’s smile. He shyly smiled in return.

“Alright, alright, I’m going!” He conceded, laughing softly as he went.

Tim’s grin faded to a fond smile as he watched Jay go. The guy was _seriously_ weird, and had some super freaky shit going on, but… He had _listened_ to Tim when he came to him, instead of dismissing his concerns as _“paranoia,”_ or something. Even more than that, Jay had _gone with Tim to find Brian,_ even though it _wasn’t Jay’s problem!_ Even though it could’ve been dangerous; even though Jay had ended up literally _bleeding_ because he’d gone with Tim… And now he’d opened up his _home,_ letting not just Brian but also _Tim_ stay the night, to help keep them safe. Tim owed Jay a _lot._

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Meanwhile, Jay had made it to the bathroom and seen his appearance in the mirror above the sink. He cringed, grimacing -- he really _did_ look like a murder victim! Or at least something out of a B-rated horror film…

He sighed and turned the water on, grabbing the somewhat stained washcloth he kept near the sink for this purpose, wetting it, lathering in some soap. That done, he set about carefully cleaning all of the blood off of his face. That finished, he ran the cloth under water until it was reasonably clean again, wrung it out, and hung it back up. He dried his face, and left the bathroom.

He then checked up on his guest room, and...it was already set up for someone to use. Jay mentally thanked his past self for his foresight. (His past self’s foresight was also the reason why he was renting a two bedroom apartment despite living alone - he’d Known a situation like this would crop up at some point.)

He remembered that Seth was still waiting on a response, and dug out his phone, mentally composing his response.

_“*t$] (t p#t] x (x{{ %t{{ %[ %wt} q] *~ & %t{{ $] %wx$ |&$% t}s]” _

_(“YES. WE ARE. I WILL TELL T, THEN B. YOU TELL S. THIS MUST END.”)_

He smiled softly as he deleted the messages and pocketed his phone. He left the guest room and headed back to the living room - he had some things to explain.

**Author's Note:**

> The logical direction this AU would go in after the events of this fic is pretty much totheark forms 3 years early, because Jay and Seth are already lowkey starting up totheark as they search for answers, and now they've got an opportunity to bring Tim, Sarah, and Brian in on it all, and they're taking it. So it'll soon become everyone vs. Alex, and the result I see coming from it is they manage to force Alex to get help before it gets any worse, and he starts recovering. So it's an AU where nobody dies! 
> 
> The events in the fic are the only ones that came clearly to me, however, so it's unlikely for me to actually write out the rest of it. Sorry to anyone who might be interested in a continuation!
> 
> (The number cipher Jay uses in this fic for his first two texts to Seth are a custom cipher I created specifically for this AU. I call it the Billiards Cipher/the Seer!Jay Cipher. It's pretty limited, but still cool! The code Seth uses in his texts to Jay is hexadecimal, and the code Jay uses for his final text is ROT47.)


End file.
